The present invention generally relates to paintball guns, and more particularly relates to feeder apparatuses used in feeding of a stored supply of paintballs to the infeed opening of a paintball gun.
The game of paintball is one in which two or more xe2x80x9cmilitaryxe2x80x9d teams try to capture one another""s flags. The players on the teams each carry a compressed gas-powered gun that shoots paintballsxe2x80x94gelatin or plastic spherical capsules which contain a colored liquid. When a player is hit with a paintball from an adversary""s gun, the paintball ruptures and leaves a colored xe2x80x9csplatxe2x80x9d on the hit player who is then xe2x80x9coutxe2x80x9d and must leave the game.
As the game of paintball has grown in sophistication, semiautomatic paintball gunsxe2x80x94guns that sequentially fire individual paintballs as fast as the trigger can be repeatedly pulledxe2x80x94have become more prevalent. The high firing rate capability of semiautomatic paintball guns has necessitated the use of bulk loader devices in conjunction with such guns.
A hopper feeder is normally adapted to internally store a relatively large quantity of paintballs (for example 100-200 paintballs) and has a bottom outlet opening through which the stored paintballs can sequentially drop. Connected to the housing over its bottom outlet opening, and extending downwardly therefrom, is a feed tube that is connectable to the gun""s hollow infeed.
During normal operation of the loader, paintballs dropped through its housing outlet opening form a paintball stack, within the feed tube and gun infeed, that is fed to the gun during firing. Paintball jams intermittently occur within the hopper-housing during firing of the gun. These jams prevent the normal delivery of paintballs downwardly through the housing outlet opening, with the result that the paintball stack can be totally depleted by several shots of the gun.
In the past, clearing of such jams has required that the gun be forcibly shaken to dislodge the paintballs causing the jam within the loader housing. Such a solution is undesirable since it interrupts the proper aiming of the paintball gun and, of course, correspondingly interrupts the gun user""s ability to continue the rapid firing of the gun.
The present invention provides jam prevention systems for use with a paintball gun having a hollow infeed portion for receiving paintballs to be fired by the gun. The jam free feeder system generally includes a housing, a feed tube, a jam free feeder system, a sensor and a controller. The housing stores a quantity of paintballs. The feed tube is connected to the hollow infeed portion of the housing. The connected feed tube forms a paintball feed passageway for receiving and holding a stack of paintballs and sequentially delivering the paintballs to the paintball gun. A jam free feeder is provided, which is selectively operable to prevent jamming of paintballs in the housing. The sensor senses the firing of the paintball gun and a controller operates the jam free feeder in response to the firing of the paintball gun. In more specific embodiments both hopper feeder and conveyor systems are provided. Both systems detect, and operate in response to each firing of the paintball gun.
The hopper feeder system comprises a housing, a feed tube, and an agitator. The housing is a container suitable for internally storing a quantity of paintballs. The housing has a bottom outlet opening through which the stored paintballs may sequentially drop. The feed tube is connected to the bottom outlet opening and connects the housing to the gun forming a feed passageway. The feed tube receives and holds a stack of paintballs dropped through the bottom outlet opening and sequentially delivers the paintballs to the gun in response to each firing of the gun. An agitator is disposed in the housing and is selectively operable to prevent a paintball feed jam by shifting some of the paintballs in the housing positioned adjacent the bottom outlet opening to prevent a jam as the paintballs exit through the bottom outlet opening into the feed tube.
Additional hopper feeder aspects of the invention provide a bulk loader apparatus for supplying paintballs to the gun, which is generally positionable above the gun. A hopper feeder apparatus includes a power source and a switch. The power source powering operation of the sensor, the controller and the agitator, and wherein the power source is operably controlled by the switch. The agitator preferably has a rotatable agitator paddle, more preferably with upward slanting sidewalls on the outside rim of the paddle.
The present invention further provides a conveyor feed system. The conveyor feed system includes a housing and a conveyor for transmitting paintballs out of the housing and into the gun. The conveyor includes holders (e.g., paddles) spatially separated for holding and transmitting the paintballs from the lower end of the paintball stack to the feed tube in response to firing of the gun.
Preferably, two conveyor feeds are provided. The conveyors spin in opposite directions, wherein the conveyors are positioned adjacent to this tube with the holders attached thereto protruding into the tube. The paintballs are transmitted from the lower end of the paintball stack to the paintball gun in response to each firing of the gun. The housing can be positioned around the gun or separate from the gun.
Both feeder systems of the present invention include a sensor and a controller. The sensor senses the firing of the paintball gun and a controller responsively operates the jam free feeder system to prevent any paintball jam. Preferably, the sensor is selected from the group consisting of an accelerometer, sound detector and a pressure sensor. More preferably, the sensor and control are a single component. Both aspects of the invention also can include a liquid crystal display.